Speed Silks is a revolutionary, patent-pending equine jockey uniform that actively reduces the rider’s aerodynamic drag. Speed Silks® products are made entirely with Aero Dimplex®, SwissTech’s patented fabric that’s uniquely textured to reduce drag. It’s dimpled like a golf ball, and that texture is what actively reduces drag caused by wind resistance. Speed Silks are unlike any gear you’ve ever worn. Every aspect of their design and manufacture was chosen to reduce a jockey’s aerodynamic drag. Why is that so important? Let’s take a minute to talk about drag…

1) Don’t be a kite. Or a parachute. You’ve also noticed that Speed Silks™ look unlike anything you’ve worn before. Every piece in the Speed Silks line is form-fitting. A jockey’s colors and pants make a lot of noise during a race. That noise is his clothing flapping in the wind. Every single flap pulls backwards on the jockey, and therefore, the horse. We call it the “kite tail effect.” The tail of a kite is designed to create drag and pull the bottom of the kite in a specific direction. That’ good for a kite, but bad for a racehorse. All Speed Silks products are form-fitting, eliminating the folds of fabric that catch the wind. They’re also made with as few seams as possible, because more seams mean more wight and more places where the air can catch and pull.

2) Be a golf ball instead. And Speed Silks’ revolutionary design reduces “skin friction.” Skin friction is literally the friction created as air is dragged across a surface…in this case, the jockey. The textured surface of the Aero Dimplex creates tiny vortices of turbulent air along the surface of the jockey. While it may seem counter-intuitive, that’s what allows the rider to “slip” through the air more freely. Imagine the dimples are creating tiny ball-bearings of air between the jockey and the air he’s traveling through.

3) Just don’t be a drag. Speed Silks also reduce something called “form drag.” As something moves quickly through the air, a pocket of low air pressure forms behind it. That pocket of low pressure pulls backward on the jockey, and therefore, the horse. Race car drivers and competitive cyclists already understand how to take advantage of this phenomenon: they “draft” behind a vehicle in front of them, filling up the low-pressure pocket, allowing both cars to go faster. Speed Silks™ makes the air flow around the jockey more efficiently, shrinking the size of that low-pressure pocket, reducing the backward pull on the jockey. That’s a basic description of how Speed Silks work, but if you have more questions, call us or visit our FAQ. If you’d still like to learn more, give us a ring at (806) 333-8589 or e-mail: info@SpeedSilks.com.